concerts

Saturday at The 2017 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival – S12E15

Leave a comment

After recovering from equilibrium or balances issues on the boat ride at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, Saturday’s event was filled with races, activities and live music.

The weather turned out very good but throughout the afternoon, winds were picking up during the races and caused some delays. It was fun to shoot photos of the dragon boat races while in the boat on the waters of the Rideau River. It’s the second year to experience seeing the action on the waters.

To the concert series, missing Friday’s lineup due to not having a camera without it. Saturday ended off with Twin Flames (from Ottawa), Kasador (from Kingston), The Darcys and Half Moon Run (from Montreal). It’s always a thrill to see The Darcys and the first time to see the three bands. I’ve been familiar with Half Moon Run but never seen them live.
You check the photos galleries below.

It’s always a pleasure to attend Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival every Summer. Great seeing the sights and sounds of the races as well with the live music to keep fans and racers entertained. Kudos to the organizers for making the festival fantastic.
Continue reading →

Thursday at The 2017 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival – S12E14

Leave a comment

Live music, bagpipers and lion dancing kicked off the 2017 edition of The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival on Thursday night.

Their concert series kicked off with The Elwins, Said The Whale and The Sheepdogs. All three were great and the best thing about the concert series at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, it is free! Best of all, the music lineup are all Canadian.

Friday’s lineup will have Kalle Mattson, The Zolas and Dear Rouge. There is a lot of things to do in Ottawa with Summer in full swing.

Check out the photos below.

Continue reading →

Saturday at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival and the Percy Station Opening – S11E33

Leave a comment

ODBF 2016 Saturday Main

There were a lot of events happening in Ottawa. From the Ottawa International Jazz Festival to Escapade to House Of Paint’s Community Jam and the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival.

My afternoon started in Chinatown as there was a popup structure on Somerset and Percy. There was a fire that destroyed businesses in 2015 and the city decided to create a pilot project to transform the streetside parking to space of activity and renewing the urban space. Local businesses from Jackpine and Atelier Ruderal help made the creation possible. On hand at the opening were Somerset Ward Councillor, Catherine McKenney, the Somerset BIA and Awesome Ottawa. Photos from the event are posted below.

After that was off to Mooney’s Bay Park for Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival again. I never had a chance to take photos of the actual race, I have participated in dragon boat race back in the mid/late 1990s but it was the first time to hop on the boat and just have fun shooting the races.

The concert lineup for Saturday night was a good one. It started with Ottawa’s Pony Girl, then Halifax’s Nap Eyes (they’re on the 2016 Polaris Music Prize Long List) and topping it off was Alvvays. All three bands were excellent. I originally planned to leave after the third song of Alvvays but I saw a few friends I know that were in the crowd. I decided to dropped by for a bit. The crowd was quite the spontaneity with the crazy jumping, dancing and bumping around.

You can view the photos below.
Continue reading →

Friday at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival – S11E32

Leave a comment

ODBF Friday Main

Friday night at the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival was crazy hot. I had to do a lot of running around because I decided to take some photos of The Beaches playing and then rush to my lion dance troupe for the opening ceremony. I definitely was in a sweaty mess.

I’ve been hearing good things about the Toronto female indie rock band, The Beaches. Their music is like glam rock meets new wave and just having a good time. It was a short time checking them out but they’re just wonderful. The band opened up Mia Rae and Mother Mother.

Onto the lion dance performance, it was different than the previous years because we were part of the parade of champions led by the RCAF Pipes and Drums. At least it was time efficient for us to start lion dancing right away than to wait for the speeches.

It was crazy and fun Friday night to be at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. The concert lineup is the best there is with Canadian content and it’s totally free.

The photos are below and there’s a lot to look at.
Continue reading →

Friday's Glow Fair Festival – S11E30

Leave a comment

Glow Fair Friday Main-1

In its third year, it’s the first time to attend the Glow Fair festival as I had been going to Toronto for NXNE in previous years. This year’s NXNE has been confusing with their changes and what not better way to finally go to Glow Fair.

From its website, it’s a Music + Light + Art festival. It closes 9 blocks of Bank St. in Ottawa. Friday’s music lineup were Caveboy, Fevers, Young Galaxy and Keys N Krates.

It’s been quite a long time I have seen Young Galaxy live. Seeing them live at Glow Fair, I did not know about the changes in their lineup. Missing was their lead member, Stephen Ramsay. Catherine McCandless was mainly on the vocals. Overall, a great performance from Young Galaxy.

Glow Fair is a fun festival for all ages and there’s various activities throughout Bank St. The festival runs until Saturday.

You can check out the photos from below.

Continue reading →

Yes We Mystic and Sounds of Stories at Pressed – S11E29

Leave a comment

Yes We Mystic Sounds of Stories Main

Yes We Mystic and Sounds of Stories played at Pressed on Thursday. It’s been awhile I have stepped foot at Pressed and didn’t realize an expanded space in the back.

Starting with Sounds of Stories, they’re an Ottawa band which is now a 6 member piece. Their genre is on the indie folk and rock side. They started off Thursday’s show at Pressed and made a great impression with their performance. The Voyage is their current album released and possibly a new album to be out in the Fall. You can check their album on Bandcamp.

Yes We Mystic is a Winnipeg indie rock band. They recently returned from Europe and back in Canada. Ottawa being the first on their Canadian tour. The band recently released their album, Forgiver. I was able to catch some of their performance and they were pretty rocking and full of melodic sounds.

Overall, a fine Thursday night to be out and about in the Nation’s Capital. June has a lot of events happening right now. Summer is in full form.

The photos are posted below.

Continue reading →

Mounties and Fresh – S10E32

Leave a comment

June 25th Main-1

There were a lot of events happening on Thursday night from Ottawa Jazz Festival to to several concerts like Murder Murder and Scary Bear Soundtrack at Rainbow Bistro. The Summer festival is full swing in Ottawa and so many things to do.

I decided to go to the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival to check out Mounties as I haven’t had a chance to see them live. Mounties consists of Hawksley Workman, Ryan Dahle and Steve Bays. They were an enjoyable band to check out as their stage presence was funny and engaging. Between in each songs, they kept bringing up funny banter and the crowds loved it. What a way to start the concert series at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. Unfortunately, I missed out on Jim Bryson and Yukon Blonde as I had to head over to Babylon Nightclub.

Fresh – June Edition
I went over to Babylon Nightclub for Fresh, it’s an event by DJ 2 Creamz of The Mix. There were performances by Missing Linx, Phoenix Pagliacci, Yusso & Junia-T. There was live art and display from Vincent B, Cinema, Mique Michelle, Alexandre Aimée, Robbie Lariviere, Jay Leblanc and Bradford Photo. As well, there were beat showcase by Bix and CircaBeatz and music by 2 Creamz himself and The Kid Gorgeous.
Lastly, it’s nice to see House of Paint as one of the supporters/sponsors for the event and keeping Hip-Hop in Ottawa strong.
Due to the time, I didn’t get a chance to check out Yusso and a few others but was able to take a bunch of photos.

It was good night to check out a lot of events in Ottawa. This weekend continues to be a fun time as June finishes up.

You can check out the photos by clicking HERE (for Mounties) and HERE (for Fresh)

Second Day at NXNE, 2015 Edition – S10E28

Leave a comment

Paper 100 Main

On Thursday night, Paper Bag Records host an event at Lee’s Palace to celebrate their 100th release and as part of NXNE. It was an evening of music from performers of the past, present and future who helped Paper Bag Records. The event was hosted by CBC Radio 3/CBC Music‘s Lana Gay.

Unfortunately, I didn’t stay for the whole night of fantastic music. I was able to check out DIANA (again), the 2015 Polaris Music Prize Long List nominee and Ottawa’s The Acorn, Nils of The Rural Alberta Advantage, the return of Rock Plaza Central and Alana Yorke. The best part was getting the #Paper100 bag with goodies.

U.S. Girls at The Garrison
The reason for leaving #Paper100 was to get to The Garrison to check out U.S. Girls. I have heard some good thing about this musician. Meg Remy, originally from America and based in Toronto, has been making music since 2007. Her music brings a style of Pop with some electro beats and funky sounds. Remy uses a reel-to-reel player for the unique mixing. A lot of dancing and energetic beats from her music.

Another reason to check U.S. Girls was Basia Bulat. She was there on the supporting vocals. It’s very different from her own music because I would say she’s having fun. There was a good turnout to those who checked out U.S. Girls.

Overall, it was another fun night to be at the venues and meeting the people I know.
Lastly, you check out the photos at Flickr by clicking HERE (for #Paper100) and HERE (U.S. Girls).

First Day at NXNE, 2015 Edition – S10E27

Leave a comment

ginla Benice Prince Innocence DIANA

Arrived in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon and it’s the first time to attend NXNE during the midweek instead of the weekend. The funniest thing was bumping into people I know in Toronto and it’s not the weekend yet.

Even though, I didn’t have much priorities on who to check out this year, it’s going to be pretty random and spontaneous. On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity and a long walk to The Drake Hotel Underground to check out DIANA. It’s one of the bands I haven’t got to see live for awhile. Opening up for DIANA at the Drake Underground were ginla, Bernice, and Prince Innocence. All of the bands were amazing and ranged from soft to the loud.

You can check out the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.
There were a few photos at NXNE Hub and a photo of Cadence Weapon as he was DJing.

Keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as I post some fun photos.

AquaAlta at Zaphod Beeblebrox – S10E20

Leave a comment

AquaAlta Main-1

On Thursday night, a new band, AquaAlta played at Zaphod Beeblebrox. The band consists of Charles Austin, Jenn Grant and Graeme Campbell. It’s a side project and a collaboration of the three artists. The Halifax band released their debut LP, Dreamsphere on March 3rd and have embarked on a mini tour. Ottawa was their second show in promoting the new LP. Their vinyl includes 3-D glasses.

AquaAlta’s music can be described as dreamy or seagaze as described on their Facebook Page. The concert was much like that, very dream pop with some techno/electro beats in it as well as Grant’s hypnotic voice. For Canadian music fans familiar with Grant, there’s no change to her singing which keeps her folk music style intact. She had released her fifth album, Compostela in 2014 and is having a pretty busy year so far. The show at Zaphods was terrific and had a good turnout. At one point, Grant came down to the crowd and had people dance with her as she sang. It was definitely a fun show.

Opening up for AquaAlta was the local band, The Visit. Their music is a mix of experimental classical music and some throat singing. The duo consists of Raphael Weinroth-Browne on the cello and Heather Sita Black on the vocals.
Continue reading →